Encrypted databases provide data protection (security) in cloud platforms and/or database-as-a-service settings. In encrypted databases, data can be encrypted at the client and can be provided to the database for storage. Adjustable encryption has been introduced for processing queries on encrypted data, while protecting sensitive data stored in the (cloud) database. During adjustable encryption, a database column is adjusted to a necessary level of encryption, e.g. order-preserving encryption, for a set of executed queries. In some cases, the encryption level is not reversed. This has the drawback that long running databases will eventually transform into only order preserving encrypted databases.